UPDATING THE ACT-I-VATE WORLD

[MattBrady]

by Chris Arrant (pictures by Seth Kushner)

A lot has changed in recent years for webcomics. Once just a curious branch in the larger tree of the comics tree, that branch has grown – thrived even – into a vibrant display of creativity and diversity. Forged in the pioneering spirit found in independent comics, they were joined by major companies such as Marvel, DC, TOKYOPOP, King Features and others into the growing pool of comics available online. But unlike other venues such as bookstores and newspaper where the little fish might be edged out by the bigger fish, the unique capabilities of the internet allow equal access… and best of all, virtually all are free.

One of the pillars of this webcomics movement is the comics collective ACT-I-VATE. Founded in early 2006 by cartoonist Dean Haspiel and seven other cartoonists, its lineup has expanded to over twenty-five members producing free comics content on the web. The group made its biggest impact yet at the recent New York Comicon, hosting its own panel highlighting the strides that webcomics, and ACT-I-VATE, have made. In addition to the announcement of new series and the return of previous ones, the collective announced their new standalone website website, expanding from its original home on the blogging platform Livejournal.com.

"As ACT-I-VATE became increasingly popular, not only to fans of our comix but to journalists, editors, art directors, agents, and publishers, we realized we needed to create a professional platform that was intuitive for those folks who didn't have the patience to slog through a blog," said Dean Haspiel. "We felt it necessary to better impart our comix to the world. However, we didn't want to lose the loyal community we'd built and so we've kept the Live Journal version of ACT-I-VATE for alerts and news items."

With over two years of almost daily content aggregated over the course of the twenty-seven months the collective has been publishing online, making it available outside the confines of the Livejournal framework is an attractive proposition for would-be readers. "The website has really pushed AIV out of the cozy niche of Livejournal, into the wider world. It's where we need to be," explained Simon Fraser. "From readers POV the new site is a much easier to use, they can now see the scale and the scope of the collective at a glance and the work is being displayed to best effect."

When ACT-I-VATE first launched in 2006, its eight members were primarily based in New York City, making their online collaboration something they could work on in person. Formed out of friendships, the group effort in this business relationship made it into a tight-knit community. Now with over twenty-five members not just in NYC – or in the U.S. – that camaraderie is unique.

"The effort it takes to manage a collective is extremely taxing," said Haspiel," especially when no one is getting paid to do it, and some relationships become stronger while others diminish. Some folks step in and others step out. We're all guilty of ebb and flow. It's classic for creative minds to clash and it's the healthy differences that keeps the organization of ACT-I-VATE fresh and alive."

But as fellow founding member Dan Goldman says, the fun is still there. "It definitely is, but my perception of it has changed; we've all gotten busier since this started (which was exactly the point). I don't see a lot of the other members as much as I used to, but I wasn't producing this much work before we started either, so for me... the magic is working."

Their recent appearances at New York Comicon proved to be the biggest ACT-I-VATE gathering yet, making the town of New York City itself the defacto hometown despite the creators various locales. "[NYCC] brought more of together than have ever been in one place before and it was great," said Fraser. "We all respect each others work and I think we all feel that AIV has become something significant. Moral is very high. We're now in the process of recruiting even further a field, even internationally."

The true collaborative spirit of ACT-I-VATE also prompted the creation of a physical studio space that is shared by several members. Named "Deep Six Studios", it's not ACT-I-VATE Central – but it is related. "Deep Six is both separate and very intertwined with ACTIVATE," explained Tim Hamilton, Deep Six and ACT-I-VATE founding member. "Being in the same room, Dean, Mike Simon and the rest are able to make decisions about various ACTIVATE dramas as they happen while at the same time doing our work. Some days, we just don’t want to hear about the website anymore. Websites are never perfect, and often something needs to be fixed or adjusted. When the red “ACTIVATE Website Crisis Phone” rings Mike sometimes just stares at it blankly, slowly chewing his donut. I ask Dean if he’s going to get it, but he pretends to be sleeping."

In the two years ACT-I-VATE has been around, founder Dean Haspiel admits that it's turned into something unexpected. "Since I created ACT-I-VATE, I had no idea it would blow up the way it has. I was first and foremost concerned about one thing: regularly scheduled comix content with the aim to viral market our wares and see what we could achieve together. Beyond the brilliant talent that keeps us steady and the great press we've received, ACT-I-VATE couldn't function the way it has without the intelligence, innovation, and dedication of Dan Goldman, Simon Fraser, Mike Cavallaro, Tim Hamilton, Leland Purvis, and Jeff Newelt."

Coinciding with the launch of the new website, the comics collective is showing a renewed surge of content. New series such as Loviathan by Mike Cavallaro, Tim Hamilton's Adventures of the Floating Elephant, Maurice Fontenot's Ghost Pimp and Sleazy Pizza by Ryan Roman join returning original titles such as Haspiel's Fear, My Dear and Dan Goldman's Kelly. Also coming in from DC's ZUDA Comics competition is Sam & Lilah by Jim Dougan and Hyeondo Park and a new series by webcomics Eisner Award nominee Joe Infurnari of The Process.

Speaking of the Eisners, Infurnari isn't the only member who has been given the nod – Haspiel's Immortal and Cavallaro's Parade (With Fireworks) is in the running as well for "best webcomic" this year. Immortal's nomination is interesting, given the lead character, Billy Dogma, has its roots in indie print comics of the 90s well before it came to the internet. Described by the creator as his " love letter to the insanity of love and a knee-jerk response to all the mainstream stuff I've been dazzled by", it shows the growth the webcomics form has taken and also it's pioneering roots as originally seen in indie comics.

Just as Billy Dogma comes from print to webcomics, so do webcomics go to print. Several ACT-I-VATE serials have been published in print format individually as standalone series. But given the collective nature of ACT-I-VATE, the question of a joint print effort – a line, a publisher, an anthology – is one bound to be asked.

And I asked.

"We've been having early talks with some publishers about collecting stand-alone stories for an ACT-I-VATE Anthology, as well as, an ACT-I-VATE Primer which would publish exclusive stories created for print-only that would serve as an introduction to some of our more franchise-ready characters," said Haspiel.

But rather than seeing print as the final destination, the ACT-I-VATE creators see it as another permutation of their comics in a different medium – another way to finance their continued efforts while keeping the comics online free. "By publishing print versions of what's available for free online, we're keeping ACT-I-VATE organic and letting it flourish in a way that will tell us what's supposed to happen next. Merchandising our individual efforts may occur as we keep one step ahead of the webcomix curve. The future of ACT-I-VATE is going to be the business of ACT-I-VATE. My mantra is: if it is good, it will sell."

[Starbird]

Good luck in the endeavor and everything the site is trying to accomplish.

[AlexLothos]

An ACT-I-VATE Anthology and an ACT-I-VATE Primer would rock. Make it so!